Diagnostic Imaging

Leading-edge imaging solutions at Anderson Regional Health System help provide a precise diagnosis and support more targeted treatment strategies. Your care is backed by advanced imaging technology in the hands of highly trained specialists, including board-certified radiologists and licensed radiologic technologists. Anderson Diagnostic Imaging Department is accredited by the American College of Radiology. Below, we detail the types of imaging exams available at Anderson.

Diagnostic Imaging

Accreditation

Anderson Diagnostic Imaging is accredited by the American College of Radiology (ACR) in Breast MRI, Breast Ultrasound, CT, Mammography, MRI, PET, Stereotactic Breast Biopsy, and Ultrasound. ACR Accreditation is recognized as the gold standard in medical imaging and demonstrates to our patients that we are committed to providing the safest and best quality care possible.

Computed Tomography (CT)

Computed Tomography (CT) is a diagnostic exam that uses special X-ray equipment to capture extremely clear images of your bones, muscles, body tissue, organs and blood vessels. These pictures help doctors diagnose and treat problems as accurately and swiftly as possible.

CT offers more detail than a standard X-ray because it provides cross-sectional images, often called “slices,” of your body. During your CT exam, an X-ray beam moves completely around you, gathering information from hundreds of different angles. A computer then takes these images and assembles a three-dimensional picture of the area being studied.

Mammography

A mammogram is an X-ray image of your breast used to screen for breast cancer. Mammograms play a key role in early breast cancer detection and help decrease breast cancer deaths.

During a mammogram, your breasts are compressed between two firm surfaces to spread out the breast tissue. Then an X-ray captures black-and-white images of your breasts that are displayed on a computer screen and examined by a doctor who looks for signs of cancer.

A mammogram can be used either for screening or for diagnostic purposes. How often you should have a mammogram depends on your age and your risk of breast cancer.

Area’s Only OPEN Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an imaging exam that uses a powerful magnet and radio waves to create detailed images of your internal anatomy. These images help doctors learn how your body is functioning and pinpoint problems.

Anderson is proud to offer the area’s only Open MRI. Though any MRI is painless, an open MRI is more pleasant for patients who are claustrophobic and for people who are physically too large to be in a closed MRI tunnel.

Benefits of an Open MRI
An open MRI provides many benefits over a closed MRI including:

Patients are able to see the room surrounding them, which minimizes claustrophobia

An open MRI allows the patient to be positioned in the center of the magnet, producing the best images

Open MRI scanners aren’t as noisy as closed MRI scanners, making the experience more peaceful for the patients

Open MRI scanners have a lower magnetic field strength, so patients with metal implants are able to get clearer pictures

Patients are able to move more in open MRI scanners because, not only are you not closed off, but images are less likely to be distorted by patient movement

Anderson Regional MRI Center is conveniently located between Anderson- North and Anderson- South at
2115 13th Street, Meridian, MS 39301.
For more information, please call 601-703-5720.

PET/CT

Positron Emission Tomography/Computed tomography (PET/CT) is a diagnostic imaging tool that combines the two scan techniques that form its name. PET/CT uses a small dose radiation to create detailed images of structures and function inside your body and can detect problems that don’t show up on other types of diagnostic imaging exams.

During a PET/CT scan, you are first injected with a radioactive substance. Lying on a flat table, you move slowly through a donut-shaped machine that detects positrons — the tiny particles given off by the radioactive material, which was injected prior to the test. The machine takes a series of images, which are then assembled to create a three-dimensional image of your body.

A radiologist interprets the results of your exam and reports them to your physician.

Nuclear Medicine

Nuclear medicine uses tiny amounts of radioactive substances to help doctors diagnose and treat a variety of health problems and diseases. It provides information about the structure and function of your body that can’t be found using other imaging exams.

When you have a nuclear medicine exam, you’ll be given a small dose of radioactive material. This radioactive “tracer” moves to the organ to be studied where it gives off energy as gamma rays. A gamma camera detects these rays and, with the help of a computer, produces images and measurements of organs and tissues.

Ultrasound

From watching a baby in the womb to detecting heart problems, Anderson brings you the latest advances in ultrasound to meet a wide range of imaging needs. Ultrasound (also called sonogram) is a quick and easy diagnostic technique that uses high-frequency sound waves to create images of the organs and systems within the body. These sound waves reflect off of body structures and are then analyzed by a computer to create a two-dimensional picture. Your exam will be performed by registered sonographers, including board-certified radiologists.

X-ray

While the field of imaging has grown dramatically over the years, X-rays are still the most common type of radiology exam. X-rays use external radiation to make clear pictures of bones, organs and other areas inside your body to help doctors diagnose and monitor health conditions.

X-rays pass through your body structures and onto digital media, and a "negative" type picture is made (the more solid a structure is, the more white it appears on the film). The soft tissues in your body (such as blood, skin, fat and muscle) allow most of the X-ray to pass through and appear dark gray on the digital media. A bone or a tumor, which is denser than the soft tissues, allows few of the X-rays to pass through and appears white on the X-ray film. At a break in a bone, the X-ray beam passes through the broken area and appears as a dark line within the white bone.

Media

In this Medical Minute, Dr. Stacy Thaggard details what an MRI does and who can benefit from this procedure. Anderson Regional MRI Center has the area's only Open MRI, which is beneficial for patients with claustrophobia, young children and elderly adults who require the presence of a caregiver, and larger patients.